Wild weather and molten surfaces

Weirdest planets in the universe

Chapter 1

Worlds of extreme ingredients

Chapter 2

Surviving in extreme cosmic neighborhoods

Chapter 3

Wild weather and molten surfaces

Chapter 4

The detective work of finding weird planets

YOUR GOAL

Master of Weirdest planets in the universe

Ch 3 · Wild weather and molten surfaces

artiteacher Wild weather and molten surfaces

Did you know, up in the night? (Oh-oh!) / Planets can burn so bright! (So bright!) / WASP-121b, it's truly wild! (So wild!) / Rains molten gems, no longer mild! (Yeah!)

artiteacher The planet with a tail like a comet

The planet with a tail like a comet

artiteacher This bloated gas giant is orbiting so close to its star that its atmosphere is being boiled off into a giant tail.

Where it rains liquid iron at night

artiteacher Extreme daytime heat vaporizes iron, which then blows to the cooler night side and condenses into metallic rain.

Melty Space Marbles

BETA

artiteacher Match the melty marbles to discover the universe's weirdest planets.

Fun Fact

Iron rain: On the ultra-hot planet WASP-76b, the winds are so powerful they carry vaporized iron across the planet at 11,000 miles per hour.

Gossip

Which extreme weather sounds the worst?

Quiz

Which gas causes the gas giant planet WASP-39b to smell like rotten eggs?

artiteacher The planet with oceans of liquid lava

Quiz

How hot does the day side of the lava planet K2-141b get?

artiteacher The giant gas world that smells like rotten eggs

Quiz

In what year did astronomers first analyze the evaporating atmospheric tail of planet Osiris?

artiteacher Where it rains liquid iron at night

Quiz

What material rains down on the night side of the ultra-hot planet WASP-76b?

Quiz

Why does planet K2-141b have a permanent lava ocean on only one side?

Quiz

What nickname was given to HD 209458b due to its evaporating comet-like tail?

Quiz

What is the approximate speed of the winds that carry vaporized iron on WASP-76b?

Quiz

Which space telescope detected hydrogen sulfide on WASP-39b, giving it a rotten egg smell?